TV: Cobie Smulders on her bruising new role in ABC’s ‘Stumptown’

Tuesday

Aug 6, 2019 at 10:03 AM

LOS ANGELES - Cobie Smulders hit the stratosphere when she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Maria Hill, a human soldier who holds her own in a world of superheroes.

But this fall, Smulders is returning to the small screen (as much as TV can be considered small these days) for ABC’s “Stumptown,” a private eye drama series that draws its strength from those people fighting for good on the ground level.

She plays Dex, a strong-willed, sharp-witted and self-destructive army veteran who reluctantly takes a job as a private investigator in Portland to provide for her and her brother. She’s got gambling debt, a habit of late-night hookups and a reluctance to grapple with the PTSD from her service.

In addition to her time in the company of Marvel’s Avengers, Smulders made a name for herself as Robin Scherbatsky on CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother.” But for the much grittier “Stumptown,” Smulders will be flexing a different muscle.

“I think when you go into something that could potentially, not to jinx anything, go for multiple seasons, you want to choose something that you are never going to be bored with, that’s going to be challenging and that is a character that you want to live with for awhile,” Smulders said Aug. 5 during the show’s panel at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.

“I just fell in love with this character. You know, there are certainly aspects of Scherbatsky in there, but it is a departure,” she said.

The part is a bruising one for Smulders, who is tasked with multiple fight scenes and stunt work, one of which required her to fend off two assailants while confined to the backseat of a small car.

“I took some hits in that one,” she said of the scene in the pilot.

The series, which is based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth, also puts Dex on the payroll and at odds with Sue Lynn Blackbird (played by Tantoo Cardinal), a Native American casino owner.

The inclusion of the Native American culture in “Stumptown’s” story is something Cardinal said affords a rare opportunity for true representation of her people, about whom she said society has some “misconstrued ideas.”

“Some people are kind of surprised we are still alive,” she said during the panel. “We have a world that is separate, it’s a little off the reservation, you might say. So it’s a great honor and I was astounded to get the script and see this character and who she is. I think it’s really exciting for us and the viewers to see a whole different idea of who we are and closer to the truth of who we are today.”

But as much as Dex will struggle to confront the complicated relationship she has with Sue Lynn and the criminal underbelly of Portland, her biggest battle will still be an internal one.

Smulders spoke about Dex’s continued struggle with PTSD from her time in war, the effects from which she is not yet ready to address.

“I’m excited to see this women come face to face with her demons,” she said.

To accurately portray the very real condition of PTSD, Smulders talked to veterans and, more personally, pulled from her own experiences as a survivor of ovarian cancer.

“I leaned on my own experience - cancer,” she said. “I leaned on things that have happened in my life and I’ve read first-hand accounts and talked to women in the military. These women are so brave and continue to be so brave after being out of the service.”Hunter Ingram can be reached at Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com. Hunter is a member of the Television Critics Association.

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